[1] Massachusetts's industrial economy began to decline during the early 20th century, with the departure of several manufacturing companies.
By the 1920s, competition from the South and Midwest, followed by the Great Depression, led to the collapse of the three main industries in Massachusetts: textiles, shoemaking, and precision mechanics.
[4] The growth was heavily centered in financial services and the high-tech industry (often driven by technology out of Harvard University and MIT),[5] and within Boston and in its suburbs along Route 128.
[7] Michael Dukakis was Governor of Massachusetts during most of this time and attempted to take credit for the "Miracle" during his campaign for United States President in 1988.
However, Massachusetts recovered from the recession faster than the rest of the Northeast, helped by the nationwide tech boom of the 1990s, and by the end of the decade the unemployment rate once again fell below 3%.